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Inside the VaticanOctober 23, 2023
Participants in the assembly of the Synod of Bishops walk on the ancient Via Appia in Rome as they make a pilgrimage to the catacombs and to the Basilica of St. Sebastian Oct. 12, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)


The synod is bringing together voices from around the world with an enormous diversity of experiences, which can make it difficult to articulate a single narrative of what is being said or heard in the synod hall. The Rev. Clarence Devadass, a priest of the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has some experience with that: He is a full, voting member of the synod, helped to draft the Asian continental document—which brought together the stories of the world’s largest and most populous continent—and will now help draft the final document of this first global assembly of the Synod on Synodality.

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In this episode, veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle interview Father Clarence about what the Asian delegation is bringing to this Roman phase of the synod and what it is like to bring together such diverse experiences in a single document.

Father Clarence also hosts a podcast called Catholics at Home, and in the second half of the show, he talks with Colleen and Gerry about the synod’s focus on helping young people become “digital missionaries.” For more on that, check out Jesuitical’s recent episode with José Manuel De Urquidi, another synod delegate from Mexico and the founder of the Juan Diego Network of podcasts.

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